Hospital group rips Brewer’s revised Medicaid plan

The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association is criticizing Gov. Jan Brewer’s revised plan to cut the state’s Medicaid program to help balance the state budget.

The industry group had said Brewer’s previous proposal to drop eligibility for 250,000 low-income adults would devastate the industry and its work force as well as the state’s overall economy.

The group says the revised proposal also would be damaging, both by gradually reducing the number of people served and by cutting payment rates for hospitals and other care providers.

Brewer’s new proposal would eliminate coverage for the same group of enrollees but allow those now enrolled to remain in the program. Enrollment would shrink by an estimated 100,000 in the first year as people leave the program for various reasons.